Accountability and platforms' governance: the case of online prominence of public service media content

POLICY BRIEF

Accountability and platforms’ governance: the case of online prominence of public service media content

Krisztina Rozgonyi | Internet Policy Review
2023


Public discourse has shifted online, with platforms becoming crucial sources and distributors of information. Public Service Media (PSM) increasingly depends on these platforms to reach a wide audience. However, these platforms control how PSM content is shared and engaged with, using their own algorithms and laws.

This paper explores the need for protections to ensure PSM content is delivered effectively on digital platforms, as part of maintaining media diversity. It examines current and potential policies for giving public value content, or “due prominence,” a special status online. This study also looks at whether current accountability measures are adequate for promoting media pluralism and offers recommendations for future policies focused on public-interest platform governance.

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Public Service Media in Northern Ireland: Prominence and Vulnerability in a Small Media System

REPORT

Public Service Media in Northern Ireland: Prominence and Vulnerability in a Small Media System

Phil Ramsey | Journal of the European Institute for Communication and Culture

2024


This study examines the politically and culturally divided society of Northern Ireland through the lenses of Public Service Media (PSM). PSM, such as the BBC NI, remain at the heart of the small media system of Northern Ireland, along with local media and other media offers from the rest of the UK and the Republic of Ireland. This research reveals that although public broadcasting is at the centre of the public sphere in Northern Ireland, its status remains vulnerable in relation to the political and cultural situation of the country.

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Integrating Ethnic Content into Public Service Broadcasting

REPORT

Integrating Ethnic Content into Public Service Broadcasting

Centre for Law and Democracy
2023


When working towards a democracy, it is important that ethnic content can be integrated into public service broadcasting (PSB). This Note looks at how this can be achieved.  In democracies, the overall regulatory system for broadcasting has tools and mechanisms to help aid and encourage broadcasting material and content that is a rough representation of the population. Broadcasters also take measures to ensure they serve the needs and interests of all members in society. This Note looks at ways to promote ethnic voices in PSB.  

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Mutual Aid and the “Messy Middle”: pushing public radio toward antiracism

REPORT

Mutual Aid and the “Messy Middle”

Pushing public radio toward antiracism

The Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism | Andrea Wenzel

Published: 2021

Across the U.S., a number of public media stations have been undertaking initiatives with the aim of making their newsrooms and their journalism more inclusive of Black, Indigenous, and people of color and other marginalized communities. These initiatives have taken a variety of forms, including tracking the diversity of their sources; diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) workshops and trainings; and community engagement initiatives.

[Text sourced from the Tow Center]

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Online violence Against Women Journalists: A Global Snapshot of Incidence and Impacts

REPORT

Online violence Against Women Journalists

A Global Snapshot of Incidence and Impacts

United Nations Educational, Scientific, Cultural Organization | Julie Posetti, Nermine Aboulez, Kalina Bontcheva, Jackie Harrison, and Silvio Waisbord
Published: 2020

Online violence Against Women Journalists. Report cover.
Online violence Against Women Journalists. Report cover.

This report presents a snapshot of the first substantial findings from a global survey about online violence against women journalists conducted by UNESCO and the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) in late 2020. Over 900 validated participants from 125 countries completed the survey in Arabic, English, French, Portuguese and Spanish. The findings shared here reflect the input of the 714 respondents identifying as women.

[Text sourced from UNESCO/ICFJ]

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Gender Equality and Diversity Implications of COVID-19 Crisis for Public Service Media

REPORT

Gender Equality and Diversity Implications of COVID-19 Crisis for Public Service Media

European Broadcasting Union

What have been the gender and diversity implications of COVID-19 for media?

“36 professionals from 24 EBU Member organisations gathered on 6 April for a virtual roundtable to discuss 5 signposted issues and share their strategies in addressing them during these unprecedented times…” – EBU

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Public Service Media & Digital Innovation: The Small Nation Experience

Credit: Nordicom
JOURNAL

Public Service Media & Digital Innovation: The Small Nation Experience

Ruth McElroy & Caitriona Noonan

This chapter from Nordicom’s 2018 publication Public Service Media in the Networked Society, emphasises the role of public media in providing minority language services in small nation states. 

This excellent paper explores the way Irish Language Broadcaster,TG4, and Welsh language broadcaster, S4C, use digital platforms to achieve objectives that are core to their public service mandate, while negotiating the “asymmetry of power in the network society”. They note that significant structural issues remain, which require the intervention of policy-makers to ensure “linguistic vibrancy and media plurality”.


Gendering War & Peace Reporting

REPORT – BOOK
“Some Insights – Some Missing Links”

This book offers analytic approaches to how traditional war journalism is gendered. Through different case studies, the book reveals how the framing of different femininities and masculinities affects the reporting and our understanding of war and conflicts.

This fascinating and essential publication was edited by Berit von der Lippe and Rune Ottosen and contains 15 contributions from experts in the field. Key themes throughout the publication include: gendering professional agencies, women and lack of agency, postcolonial perspectives and masculinities, heroes and victims. 

Published by Nordicom in December 2016.

FULL PUBLICATION


Ensuring public service news provision in the era of networked communications

JOURNAL

Gregory Ferrell Lowe and Alan G. Stavitsky

International Communication Gazette

University of Tampere, Finland and University of Nevada, Reno, USA, Sage Publications

(2016)


Overview

The article analyses the economic viability of news production in the two main categories of media organisations, legacy media and digital native media, with a focus on USA and Europe. Their findings encourage the development of a more comprehensive news media system that follows innovation, advocates diversity and enhance quality. The article includes proposals for media policy, partnerships, education and professionalism.

FULL TEXT


Women and Media Industries in Europe

JOURNAL

Tarja Savolainen

Helsinki University

Nordicom Information 37 (2) 2015


Overview

Tarja Sovelainen offers an introductory overview of research into the progress made by the European Council in relation to the objectives set by the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, 1994. This paper particularly focuses on the role of women in the media, their representation, the use of balance and stereotypes, and the access of women to expression and decision-making in and through media outlets.

Full article available via Nordicom